Creation Care

Often when we think about a Lenten spiritual discipline we think of giving up something for that season. But the purpose of a Lenten spiritual discipline—to grow closer to God—also allows us to take this time to intentionally and regularly practice an action that we want to become a discipline in our lives. This year we want to invite you to practice confession, lament, and doing justice during Lent.

I have been reflecting a lot lately about the holy connections between food, faith, and justice. In my daily life, I work part-time as a cook in a French neighbourhood cafe and part-time as a community connections coordinator at my church, where I build relationships with church members and neighbours through our weekly community dinner, neighborhood events and celebrations. In both of my jobs, I use food to feed, nourish and connect people in my workplace, church, and community.

I had escaped from the concrete jungle one August summer day to be connected with the land once again. Every summer, it is my tradition to harvest medicines for ceremonial and spiritual practices. Being Cree, two of those medicines are sage and sweetgrass. With every medicine I took from the land, I would place tobacco down & offer my prayers. With every prayer, I acknowledged Creator’s masterpiece all around me. With every acknowledgement, I was reminded that I am a mere strand in this web of life. There I was, in the thick of this web of life, in the midst of creation, on the prairies

I love to eat food, and the food I eat is intimately connected to the lives, the environments, and the well-being of people all around the world.

As an international development practitioner with World Renew, I work with staff who live in countries that are impacted by these extreme weather events. Time and time again I hear that it is climate change that is causing their communities many hardships.

“Climate change is a global problem with grave implications:
environmental, social, economic, political and for the distribution of goods;
it represents one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day.”

~ Pope Francis

As we approach the one-year anniversary of the historic Paris Agreement, the Canadian government is set to announce a national Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change.

This framework will determine how we, as a nation, respond to the climate crisis.

Three years ago, I retired from several decades of work in the corporate world. I became a bit circumspect, weighing my achievements and accomplishments against the goals, dreams and intentions I had had for my life. (Thank God for Grace!) I also started to think about what I wanted to focus on in the remaining years of my life. Pretty standard fare for a man of my age in my situation, I think.

Looking for summer beach reads? The staff of the Christian Reformed Centre for Public Dialogue and the Office of Social Justice have done the searching for you.

I have had a pair of moosehide moccasins for five years now that I absolutely love. I love them because they remind me of how I have had the way I look at the Earth and how the way I approach Creation care has been changed by my Indigenous friends and neighbours. I love my moccasins because they remind me of a wise older First Nations woman I met at an Indigenous cultural center at the beginning of my own journey of discovering what reconciled relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people look like.

Last month I was in India where the people of Chennai were whacked with the worst flooding in 100 years. Hundreds died. Many more lost their homes and small businesses.

Facebook asked me if I was alright. Thanks Mark Z. Glad to know you care mate.

Every year during the rainy season, most of the slums in Phnom Penh are flooded with overflowing rivers and sewers. People literally live with a foot of dank black water in their home. They perch on wooden beds, continuing as if there weren't liquid feces floating around their feet.